Embodiments relate generally to traffic distribution within a network, and, in particular, to methods and apparatus for network traffic distribution based on random number values.
A network routing device can be configured to route incoming network traffic to one or more target network resources based on a variety of known network resource selection algorithms such as round robin algorithms, water fall algorithms, and/or percentage utilization algorithms. These known network resource selection algorithms can be defined based on, for example, operational, financial, and/or administrative objectives associated with one or more of the target network resources.
These known network resource selection algorithms, however, have one or more disadvantages. For example, some known percentage utilization algorithms can consume substantial computational and/or memory resources. They require processing of large volumes of historical data and/or continual polling of network resources to determine current and/or historical utilization. Despite advances in hardware/software processing capabilities, some of these known selection algorithms may be difficult to adapt to scalable networking systems. Some known network resource selection algorithms provide reasonable results in only predictable, even traffic flow environments, but not in uneven/dynamic traffic environments. Accordingly, methods and apparatus are needed to address the shortfalls of known network resource selection algorithms and to provide other new and innovative features.